Eastlake High School’s boys and girls soccer teams find themselves in unique circumstances this season after Martin Casas and Scott Burress decided to swap teams. Casas had been coaching the Titans’ girls team; he is now the coach of the EHS boys team. Burress had been coaching the school’s boys team; he is now the coach of the Titan girls team.
While there are nuances coaching the two genders — Burress said boys tend to want to prove more on the field by taking on opposing players — both teams are enjoying successful starts to the 2010-11 high school soccer season.
Burress inherited a team that had lost much to graduation yet continues to perform well on the field. The Titans kicked off league play with a 6-0 victory against Mater Dei Catholic on Jan. 18 and then played a senior-laden Otay Ranch team to a scoreless tie on Jan. 20.
“The tie was not bad for us — that Otay Ranch team has 13 seniors,” Burress said.
The EHS coach said that all seven senior girls have contributed to the team’s 6-2-2 start, as well as junior standouts Brenna Bailey and Alyssa Perry.
The team’s senior class includes midfielder-forward Ariel Showalter, midfielder Viviana Wilkins, midfielder-defender Sophia Fry, forward-midfielder Daniela Sullivan, defender Sarah Sedillo, defender-midfielder Kelsey Reyes and midfielder-forward Brittany Armas.
Wilkins, Sedillo and Reyes serve as team captains. Bailey is a forward; Perry is a defender.
The Titan roster is deep with 22 players this season. The team has a pair of sisters: sophomore Dylan Christensen and freshman Haydn Christensen.
Sullivan led the team with 10 goals and three assists through 10 games while Sedillo had scored five goals and two assists.
Sullivan had two goals and one assist in the win over Mater Dei Catholic while Sedillo had a goal and assist and Dylan Christensen, Kacie Morton and Ang Boyd each scored one goal. Jojo McCaskil and Tori Parra shared the shutout.
Showalter had two goal in Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over Chula Vista while Sullivan, Morton and Boyd each scored single goals. Parra made two saves to record the shutout win.
Eastlake finished 8-2 in league play last season, one point in the standings behind league champion Hilltop.
Eastlake kicked off the season with a 2-1 showing in the 104-team strong Barons tournament in early December. A 1-0 loss to Poway kept the Titans from advancing to the Premier Division playoffs.
Despite the team’s heavy losses to graduation, Burress feels the Titans remain right in the race for this year’s league championship title.
“We lost 11 girls but every year our goal at Eastlake is to win league,” the EHS coach said. “We’ve had some girls step up. Everyone who we needed to step us this season has stepped up for us.”
Regular season play extends through Feb. 17. The San Diego Section playoffs kick off Feb. 22 and conclude March 5.
